2 University of Colorado Students Face Felony Charges After Feeding Pot Brownies To Instructor

BOULDER, Co. (KUSA) -- Two University of Colorado Boulder students are facing multiple felony charges after campus police say they fed marijuana-laced brownies to their unsuspecting classmates and instructor.

According to campus police, two students - Thomas Ricardo Cunningham, 21, and Mary Elizabeth Essa, 19 - baked THC-laced brownies for the class as part of a "bring food day." The professor and classmates were unaware that the brownies contained THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the active ingredient in marijuana.

UCPD responded to the Hellems Arts and Sciences Building Friday on a report of a professor who was complaining of dizziness and going in and out of consciousness.
Paramedics transported the female professor to the hospital.

Later that afternoon, a student's mother notified campus police that her daughter, who attended the aforementioned professor's class, was at a local hospital having an anxiety attack.

On Saturday, police got another report that a second student felt like she was going to "blackout" after the class. Her family took her to the hospital for evaluation.

An investigation revealed that the three hospitalized victims and five other classmates were suffering from the effects of THC.

Essa and Cunningham are each facing four felony charges related to the incident, including second degree assault and inducing consumption of a controlled substance by fraudulent means.

Three other hospitalized victims have been released.
UCPD believes this is an isolated incident and there's no ongoing threat to the campus community.